Lore &amp; Chronicles

Story by Krill - Atysmas Storytelling Assembly in Jena Year 2576 (2013-12-22)

The Fish of the Lakes

*takes a big swig of beer to moisten the throat and stands up*

Y will tell you a story about the Lakes.A fish story, to be more accurate.

It must be said that fish of the Lakes are know to observe migrating homins. Predominantly floating homins. Occassionally homins on the back of mektoubs.Oy, oy... the drunk as homins as well... But...

*takes another swig of beer*

...in brief, the fish are very familiar with us homins. So familiar that they have even spotted the shiny trees and bizarre outfits, which sprout into being from time to time.

One day, the fish decided that they too wanted to celebrate Atysmas. They began by put bits of red algae on their heads. They did not know why, but the yubos did it, so it had to be important. They also wanted to decorate a tree.

*drinks another sip and looks at the sudddenly empty bottle*Well, geez... Has a lutrykin been here?*stuffs the empty bottle into her bag and takes out a new*

The fish found shiny sea shells and they found garlands of seaweed. They even found strange things that homins had lost on the lakes bottom. But they did not find any tree.

*takes a sip from her bottle and coughs*A Shooki Stout! I did not order a Shooki Stout!*looks at the bottle with an evil face and takes a sip anyway*

The fish tried to decorate several large algae... but it was not the same and so the fish were very disappointed. In addition, they had also found a keg of beer and they were hoping to make a real Atysmas celebration like the homins... But without a tree...

*takes a big slurp out of the bottle*This really is not bad, this stuff. It is not the beer, but ...*gulps a bit more*

Y was saying?

Ah oy ... The fish were very disappointed. They gathered on the bottom of the lake near a town of the homins and looked gloomily at the Atysmas tree.

*finishes the bottle of Shooki Stout*HUH?... Empty again?*puts the empty bottle away and brings out a new one**checks the label, smiles and continues her story*

It was then that the Atysmas Spirit saw the poor fish, and he told himself that it would be unfair if the fish could not also enjoy the festivities. And so the Atysmas Spirit joined the fish unnoticed and said, "What if we took all our decorations into the depths of the place the homins call Dew Drops?" Then the Spirit of Atysmas disappeared.

*takes a sip of beer* Aaaaaahhh ...

The fish looked at each other, wondering who had spoken. But in the end, as they had nothing better to do than continue to make their rounds in the water, they set out for Dew Drops. There they searched and searched and searched.

*drinks another swig of beer*

Eventually they found a tree. Although a tree cannot be found at the bottom of a lake normally, a tree was there. This tree is a tree that only the fish can decorate. When you travel to Dew Drops, perhaps you will see the tree. And if you really have good eyes and the time is right, maybe you'll see the fish celebrate around the tree.

*stands up and places her hands behind his back**recites in a childish voice*

On the night of Atysmas dashes a large white HominA large snowhomin with a carrot for a noseA large snowhomin, pursued by the coldHe reaches PyrHe sees the light and is reassuredIn the Forge he enters without knockingTo warm up he approaches the firesAnd suddenly... He disappears!Leaving only a carrot, surrounded by a puddleLeaving only a carrot , and a big black hatThat's it

When the old amber forager felt that his Seed would soon perish, he called his daughter to his bed, a beautiful and clever girl. The small Tryker hastened to her father, fearing the worst, as his condition had deteriorated during the last weeks. Too often had he inhaled the noxious gases emerging due to his aggressive digging.

With a broken voice he said to her, " My dear child, as I come close to my end, I want to give you these three exceptional ambers. Keep them well, because one day they may help you find your greatest happiness." Sadly she took the ambers from him and they took leave of each other while the old man breathed his last breath.

Unfortunately, not only had she been occupied by the care of her father, but countless attempts at healing by serious healers (and also several quacks) had depleted all her savings, causing her to go deeply in debt. Now she had to work off this debt.

Her hard luck was that her creditors took pleasure from her misfortune and made her carry out the most menial work. She had to be the first in the house to get up, to clean, wash and cook. Sometimes she had to fulfill absolutely unreasonable tasks that they gave just to harrass her and to show what her place was. Late in the evening she fell dead tired on her tattered bed directly in front of the furnace, where it was always a little dingy from the ashes, despite her efforts to keep the place clean.

One day she saved a baby shalah from voracious Torbaks during one of her errands, and it never left her after that. So she had something warm in her bed. Why her masters did not say anything against it, we may never know.

The hardships of her days were reflected in intense and vivid dreams every night. The hard work, the hardships she was bearing, and also how she saved defenseless animals from dangerous predators, not seldom at the risk of her life. Her biggest dream, however, was to dance at the Atysmas ball leaving behind all the worries of everyday.

The exceptional ambers from her father would have terminated these hardships immediately due to their value, but she would never have given them away for anything in the world. Therefore, she carried the precious pieces always close to her heart, and always made sure that nobody got to see them.

As Atysmas approached, she gathered all her courage and timidly asked if she could go to help with the decoration work for the ball. "You seem not to have enough work," they replied and a large bowl of seeds was emptied into the cold ash. Only after having sorted them back into the bowl she would be allowed to go.

Despair struck her; that task was impossible to accomplish in time. Searching for comfort she looked for Cuddlefuzz, as she had christened the Shalah . Her little friend was nowhere to be found and she felt lonely as never before.

Suddenly she heard a scratching at the door and as she gazed, her faithful companion stood there with all the kinds of animals they had saved. The crowd gathered quietly around the ash and also out to the bridge planks and as if by magic, the cup filled slowly but steadily with the seeds.

When the work was done, it was already quite late and so she set out at a run to the ballroom. In her anxiety not to be late she threw open the door and bumped into a handsome Tryker. It would be hard to tell if she caught her breath from the collision or from the sight of this homin. The most striking thing about him was the red, mask-like tattoo around his eyes. When much later in the evening she lay down to sleep, the memory of the encounter filled her thoughts.

The Tryker prince, as this was the man she had run into, wondered what had happened to him. On the dimly lit bridge he could not exactly see who the girl was who apologized after the collision with a murmur and hastily disappeared. The homina, however, had lost something. He bent down and took up the three exceptional ambers.

Arriving home, he put the ambers on a little table by his bed and laid down for sleep.That night he had a strange dream. He saw a young woman working as hard as he had never seen a homin work. She received instructions that weren't anything but bullying and humiliation. Her stamina and energy deeply impressed him.

The following night he dreamed of the same Tryker. He watched her fighting a torbak with her pike, an injured shalah baby cowering close to her. After the little girl had killed the great Torbak, she cared for the baby shalah which then followed her. He watched her sharing her meager meals with the infant animal, and how the little one snuggled up to her and warmed her.

Did I mention that the prince was exceptionally fond of animals and what his favorite animal was?

In his dream the third night he saw the young woman dancing at the Atysmas ball, making him definitely falling in love. She looked so glowing and happy. He just had to meet her .

So he began to look for her, first of all in the area where they had collided. He went from door to door and asked everywhere for the woman of his dreams. At each door he was disappointed.

He started to doubt the success of his quest when he was dismissed particularly harshly the evening before the ball. He had already started to turn to go when the ambers began to become warmer in his pocket with every step he made away from the place.So he knocked on the door, again and pushed past the unfriendly woman. He immediately recognized the bed near the furnace and then saw the little shalah.

The small Tryker could not believe who she saw forcing his way into the room. She drew back into the darkest corner and tried to hide behind her Cuddlefuzz. Determinedly, the handsome homin approached her, bowed to her and said, "Would you do me the honor to accompany me tomorrow for the Atysmas ball?"

Before she could think and respond, a harsh voice sounded from the direction of the door that this was not possible because she had to work off her debt. The prince just asked, "How much?" After some tough negotiations, he had ransomed the woman from his dreams.

At the ball, the two danced together the whole night through, and when he looked into her eyes, he felt as happy as she looked.

When snow covers lovely Atys, and Atysmas yubos wander the land, the wind can be heard in the night, speaking of him.

The others called him Red Nose, and he was so cute, this small yubo with his red nose, red as a lamp. His small, red nose caused them mirth, and he was often laughed at. It was said that Red Nose enjoyed his drink a little too much.

But a good fairy, who heard him crying in the dark one evening, came to comfort him and told him "You'll see!"

When his yubo brothers saw him flying, ever so lightly, and bringing a rain of gifts, majestically pulling the sleigh, well, I can tell you that, this time, his nose made them jealous!

It is true that most of the gibbaï are rude, dirty and a bit rough, but did you know that when they run towards you, arms wide open, they are in fact trying to give you a hug?But us homins, we do not like gibbaï hugs so much.

This one gibbaï was even more affectionate than the others.He dreamed about being hugged, petted, stroked and deloused.So when he witnessed homins quietly harvesting or having a picnic in the jungle, he always went to welcome them, in the hopes they would invite him to join their activities.Unfortunately, upon seeing him, homins ran and escaped - if they didn't throw things at him.

This made the gibbaï very sad.

Once, he dyed his hair red, because homins often go talking with red gibbaï. But it turned out they do not give red gibbaï hugs either. Also, red dye does not work so well on black gibbaï fur.

One Atysmas night, he heard laughter and singing.Coming by, he saw numerous homins gathered, sitting and listening to a story by a Fyros.Quietly, he drew near them to listen.

None saw him. Alone and sad among the people, he almost believed for a moment that he was one of them.

He left before any homin could take notice, for he didn't want this peaceful moment to end with weapons drawn.

I dedicate this tale to all gibbaï, who dispite their rude manners and their social undesirability, often enjoy dreams and gentleness without being able to share it with others.

This is the story of a young homin.He was a hunter. From the beginning he didn't hunt for fun.He always hunted to get something to eat or to get skins that he could sell, or to make his clothes and his tools.

On one Atysmas evening, the young hunter was sad that the season hadn't been good to him and he hadn't made money.He hadn't been able to provide anything to his family, so he decided to go out hunting, despite the snow and cold, in order to make something he could give them.

After one hour of tracking, the young homin finally discovered a strange creature that looked like a yubo... but with horns.The hunter was surprised, but it was Atysmas evening, and he wanted to give something to his family.So he stayed crouched under cover, waiting for the creature to come closer... and he jumped on it when it came within reach!

"Stop!" shouted the yubo. The hunter paused his movement. "I'm one of the many Atysmas yubos, I'm there to bring joy and good mood on this evening!"The homin sighed, "Alas, I'm a hunter, and the year has been tough. I'd like to give gifts, but I cannot pay for them.""Therefore, I'd like to create something with my own hands, but all the animals are hiding from the cold..."

Understanding his distress, the yubo gestured for the hunter to follow it, and he complied, while holding back his sadness.Together, they went to the last hawker who was still selling something, and the yubo had the hunter buy a simple worn pick for a few dappers.The yubo then led the hunter to a vast clearing, where he started digging.Taken aback, the hunter mimicked the horned yubo, and discovered quickly that the ground was full of resources.

Together, they got enough materials for the hunter to manage to make clothes and jewels for his family.

To thank the Atysmas yubo, the young homin decided that he would never again take the life of an animal, and from that day on he became a harvester.

It is actually a legend I heard.It is said that even the great bandits fear the great Atysmas Spirit.So they gather once a year in a secret place on Atys to try to find the Spirit.

But, until now they were unable to find it, for the spirit is fast and leaves only snow behind.

That is why they are so angry with homis... 'cause they believe that the Atysmas Spirit loves them more and more each year and leaves presents all over Atys for them and not for the bandits;

which, by the way, were called nomads, but since they did not believe the Atysmas Spirit existed, they did not celebrate it, they became dark inside and turned into bandits.

On the other hand, it is said that the Spirit still hopes, to this day, that they will find that spark of goodness and when they do, they will finally find the presents scatered all over Atys and share the laughter and hapiness of Atysmas with homins.

Long long ago, back in the Old Lands, even before the founding of Coriolus or Zoran, when homins lived in small villages, there was a young Fyros hominette who lived in a village in the Desert.

This hominette, who was named Eukisse, was an orphan, and was raised by the village as a whole to honour her parents.

She had studied hard and learned much about the different fibres that she could harvest in the desert, how to comb them and spin them to make thread and yarn.

Eukisse also knew all the different dyes that she could colour the fibres with, how to prepare them and how to combine them. She made many new colours.

She also knew how to knit all kinds of garments, socks and gloves and vests and hats, and she would make them in all the colours she knew how to create.

Because she was so busy with spinning and dying and knitting she did not have much time to make friends.

When she had a little time and tried to approach the other children in the village they pointed and laughed and said: "Kiss, kiss, go play with your piss."

As we all know, yubo piss is an important ingredient in making dyes work correctly. However, children can be very cruel.

One day Eukisse made a recipe for a dye that was so bright a red that you could say it glowed when it was applied to Anete fibre.

She knitted a hat of the glowing red Anete fibre, put it on her head and went to the village square to show it off, but the other children mocked her, saying that a glowing hat would only attract predators.

Now the time of Atysmas came near and all the children looked forward to the presents that the Sint (Father Atysmas) would bring them.

The night before Atysmas she said her prayers and then tucked herself into bed to sleep until the morning. A dust storm was rising and the wind was blowing hard, but her hut was solid and she was not afraid.

As she was beginning to go to sleep there was a knock at the door of her hut. She wrapped a blanket around her and opened the door.

There stood Father Atysmas himself. Behind him were his mektoub mount and his train of Packers, all loaded with gifts. Eukisse could barely see them through the dust.

"Eukisse, will you loan me your glowing hat? The dust is so thick I need more light to lead my packers so that I can deliver the presents.”

Of course Eukisse was glad to do so, but Father Atysmas was disappointed. "It needs to fit on the head of my mount. This is too small."

In a flash, Eukisse grabbed her knitting needles and knitted with the glowing yarn as fast as she could. In no more time than it takes to tell, she had made a Mektoub sized hat, glowing brightly in the darkness of the dust storm.

Father Atysmas delivered all his gifts that night, thanks to the glowing hat. The last gift was to Eukisse, a new set of the shiniest knitting needles she had ever seen.

Ever since then at Atysmas time the Mektoub Mounts wear red hats to remember the time that Eukisse saved Atysmas with a red hat.

Epilogue: The children of the village never did invite her to play with them. Children can be cruel.However, Eukisse finally married a handsome homin who was able to see her talents even if she wasn't popular and they were happy together for all their life.